FAST is spidering my sites and I haven't paid ever :), I think (but i might be wrong) that if you can get a link to your site from a site that is already in the database then your site will get spidered aswell, it worked for me.

I hope this helps,

By the way Welcome to Webmasterworld :)

<added> I have sites in many different subjects if you let me know what subject your site is in I might be able to provide a link to your site, it may work :) )

Fast has a pay-for-inclusion scheme in the works, labeled Partnersite programme. Currently a free beta is running. For Europe this programme will be made available by Lycos and Tiscali. Right now your chances to get into the index are unclear. Last update didn't bring up a remarkable amount of new sites. Up to now Fast did work like Diddly describes above: Have some links to your site and fast's crawler shows up sooner or later. You might also try and submit to alltheweb and your local lycos.

I am using the Partnersite Beta program. They will spider your site and list your pages within a few days with this program. While it does provide fairly quick listings, I don't see enough traffic from it to justify the $299 per month yet. It is currently still in a Beta test and because of that it is free but when they start charging I will probably drop it.

I received a couple emails from them saying they were extending the Beta period until sometime in January. I haven't heard a specific date as to when it will end, though. Here is the last email I received from them:

"Dear Beta Partner,

We want to give you an update on the FAST PartnerSite beta program. Since the last e-mail you received from FAST, we've been busy fine-tuning FAST PartnerSite for the Version 1 release. The Beta period continues to be extended, free of charge and without obligation of course, until mid-January. More details regarding the official release will be sent after the holidays. Also, the third and final survey will be available in early January.